This week was all Final Fantasy XIV. I was within spitting distance of the expansion content for Final Fantasy, as I had just one more service patch of material to get through. Of course, there is apparently much further to spit than I initially assumed, as there was a difficult dungeon, two boss fights, and over an hour of cutscenes before it would dump me, unceremoniously and kinda angry, at the door of the expansion content.

Seriously, so much happens in those cutscenes that just...doesn't mesh with how MMOs work! Like, the plot implies a lot of things that should have an effect but cannot possibly have an effect, because I still need to move around and such. And I know they don't work because I tested them. Sure, it was dramatic, but it was too dramatic. It also seems like a bad idea to (SPOILERS)

kill off every character expect the most ANNOYING character in the entire game. Seriously, how the fuck did Alphinaud make it out of this shit alive? How was Alphinaud not the first person who got his head removed from his shoulders? Who high on the totem pole on the FFXIV staff LIKES Alphinaud? Ug this guy. He is so goddamn smug.

Anyway, I now have been given entry into the Forbidden City, and I'm getting EXP hand over fist, I became an Astrologian, and now I'm going to IGNORE ALL THAT and focus on becoming level 50 in a trade. I'm almost there as a Weaver, having spent an inordinate amount of time and money completing the level 45 quest for it. Just need to also get Alchemist up to level 34 so I can make a material I need and this is a giant terrible hole that I have fallen into.